New BassChat 8"Cab design

[Phil Starr]

On 13/07/2023 at 13:14, Chienmortbb said:

So in conclusion, get the non-pro version. Fane Sovereign 8-225

yes go for the cheaper one

[GlamBass74]

Baffle holes cut and bracing fitted this morning. It's coming on nicely 👍

[chyc]

Really nice job! Are those braces done with a hole saw?

[GlamBass74]

They are indeed

[Phil Starr]

nice job

[GlamBass74]

Thanks Phil 

 

Looks quite boring with the lid on...

 

Next up is sander, router for radiused edges and a bit of filler here and there. 

 

Driver should arrive Monday, so it'll be fun to try it out and tune it before painting/covering, handle, corners etc etc. 

 

Cover or paint? Hmmm.... 

Edited July 15, 2023 by GlamBass74

[Downunderwonder]

8 hours ago, GlamBass74 said:

Baffle holes cut and bracing fitted this morning. It's coming on nicely 👍

I spy a potential rattle there, unless your adhesive is the expanding kind, that gap at the front of the top brace may struggle to set solid.

[Phil Starr]

On 11/07/2023 at 13:29, Matt P said:

i can see this making a fantastic personal monitor for EUB , any chance of it having some kind of kickback option? I'm thinking it would be a great cab for small gigs and then a personal monitor for use when running into a PA. something along the lines of the crazy 8/88

 

just a 45 degree cutout on one edge would be enough.

 

Matt

Hi Matt, I've been thinking about your problem of achieving an easy to build kickback.  I used to have a Hartke kickback the shape you describe. The biggest problem is that you need to cut really accurate 45 degree angles along the long edges of three panels, easy if you have access to a table saw but not something most people can do at home. I also found the Hartke a bit unstable, it tended to roll around in the car and fall back down or onto it's back at gigs. Ok, I'm a clumsy fool and it wasn't entirely the Hartke's fault

 

Anyway I think the problem could be solved with a foldaway flap/strut  fixed to the bottom of the cab which would tuck away under some rubber feet when you were carrying the cab or didn't want the tilt back option.

[JohnDaBass]

16 hours ago, GlamBass74 said:

Thanks Phil 

 

Looks quite boring with the lid on...

 

Next up is sander, router for radiused edges and a bit of filler here and there. 

 

Driver should arrive Monday, so it'll be fun to try it out and tune it before painting/covering, handle, corners etc etc. 

 

Cover or paint? Hmmm.... 

Great job, looks great.

Could this be heralding a sideline of budget bass cabs?

Maybe Glamfaced bass cabs or GlambassLf cabs 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[GlamBass74]

I have a bit of an addiction John.

 

I just enjoy putting ideas together and seeing how they work. 

 

I guess it's adult Lego/Meccano 😁

 

Fortunately, Mrs Glambass is wonderful and tolerates my interest with only an occasional roll of her eyes. 

[kodiakblair]

On 11/07/2023 at 08:40, Phil Starr said:

A 2x8 version would be interesting.

I've never attempted to build a cab before, maybe this will keep me from looking at TC, TE and Warwick Gnome 2x8's 🙂

 

Have a load of 15mm exterior ply at work , could I use that ?

[Downunderwonder]

12 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

exterior ply

Not familiar with your definition. Over here it would be treated with an anti fungal but not necessarily of the kind of knot free structure you want for cabs.

[SamIAm]

15 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

Anyway I think the problem could be solved with a foldaway flap/strut  fixed to the bottom of the cab which would tuck away under some rubber feet when you were carrying the cab or didn't want the tilt back option.

This seems an easy and effective approach

https://www.paniquejazz.com/2018/09/24/project-amp-tilt-back-stand/

S'manth x

[Phil Starr]

29 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

I've never attempted to build a cab before, maybe this will keep me from looking at TC, TE and Warwick Gnome 2x8's 🙂

 

Have a load of 15mm exterior ply at work , could I use that ?

Exterior ply in the UK just means the resin/glue is waterproof, ideally you'd want ply that is free of voids and will finish well. To finish well you need a high quality outer veneer but high build paints like Tuff Coat cover a multitude of sins. The ultimate grading of plywood is complex and getting more so over time. I'm quite nerdy about most things and I struggle to keep up. 

 

The increase in the use of plywood boards for timber framed houses and other construction uses has confused things a little. If your exterior timber is for construction in that way It's likely to be a bit rough on the outside and likely to splinter when you cut it and may have voids and or repairs to the core plies, so not great. Some of Wickes exterior ply is decent hardwood ply that I use a lot with BB grade exterior veneers.

 

In the end if you build an airtight, solidly made box it will work as a cab though and some people here made their prototypes with exterior softwood shuttering ply and it worked. You can buy a decent piece of ply from B&Q and have it cut to size for less than £20 though so it's your choice. If it's something you use at work why not ask one of the chippies what they think?

 

 

[kodiakblair]

4 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

If it's something you use at work why not ask one of the chippies what they think?

I am one of the chippies 😄

 

It was the 15mm not 12mm I was wondering about, do I keep the same inner dimensions and hole positions or does being thicker  affect those ?

[kodiakblair]

5 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

Not familiar with your definition. Over here it would be treated with an anti fungal but not necessarily of the kind of knot free structure you want for cabs.

Over here sheathing ply is the rough stuff used mostly for shuttering, marine is the top grade; exterior is general purpose with one good face for painting.

[Downunderwonder]

46 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

I am one of the chippies 😄

 

It was the 15mm not 12mm I was wondering about, do I keep the same inner dimensions and hole positions or does being thicker  affect those ?

Keep internal dimensions. One good face will be fine so long as there are no defects that buzz under the influence of bass.

[Phil Starr]

1 hour ago, kodiakblair said:

Over here sheathing ply is the rough stuff used mostly for shuttering, marine is the top grade; exterior is general purpose with one good face for painting.

OK not Falkirk in Scotland then

 

I used to work in the building trade for a while, marine as the top grade and exterior with one good face is what I was used to but we have a lot of different materials coming in now with a lot more of it coming from China. Builders are as bad as medics for changing the terms they use for things. Sounds like what you are using would be ideal, just keep the inside dimensions the same.

 

I nearly suggested you send me an off cut  Sounds like you know what you are doing. The important factor is to tune the cab. It's tuned the way you tune a bottle when you blow across it where the crucial factors are the volume of air and the dimensions of the mouth. It forms something called a Helmholtz resonator and is tuned to (roughly) the resonant frequency of the speaker. So long as you keep the internal volume the same and the port dimensions identical the tuning will stay the same.

 

Can you get hold of the Fane Sovereign 8-225? if you can't and use another driver I'm happy to see what might work and suggest a new tuning if you need it

 

 

[kodiakblair]

9 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

OK not Falkirk in Scotland then

No, Falkirk in Scotland.

 

Reply was to downunderwunder. 

 

I'm looking at a pristine sheet of 15mm ATM, thinking do I use it for deafening boards or do I use some old 18mm for that and have the 15mm for cab material 🙂

[GlamBass74]

this was made from ply offcuts from a building site. 

 

i'm cheap 😁

[Chienmortbb]

23 hours ago, GlamBass74 said:

Fortunately, Mrs Glambass is wonderful and tolerates my interest with only an occasional roll of her eyes. 

She is a keeper! 

[Chienmortbb]

The Basschat MK2/3 prototype cab was made from softwood(spruce) ply, very lightweight but also very soft. The later kits were made from Italian Poplar, a good compromise between weight and durability. Watch out for the number of plies though. 

 

The cabinet for the Fane 8-225 that a @Phil Starr made for me was from 18mm ply that he had lying around. I am not sure what it is. 
 

 

[Phil Starr]

1 hour ago, kodiakblair said:

No, Falkirk in Scotland.

 

Reply was to downunderwunder. 

 

I'm looking at a pristine sheet of 15mm ATM, thinking do I use it for deafening boards or do I use some old 18mm for that and have the 15mm for cab material 🙂

OK jumping to conclusions again, There's a Falkirk in North Carolina (I think) and the Kodiak Bear is Alaskan. @stevie uses 15mm ply in preference and for bigger cabs 12mm ply needs substantial bracing. I think it'll be fine for this tiny cab though. We used 18mm for the prototype because I had more offcuts of that than 12mm. It's only a matter of balancing toughness, finish, weight and rigidity.

 

I disown all ownership of the early versions of the MK2 and 3 cabs  Spruce Ply? Good Grief.

 

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Phil Starr

[Chienmortbb]

28 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

OK jumping to conclusions again, There's a Falkirk in North Carolina (I think) and the Kodiak Bear is Alaskan. @stevie uses 15mm ply in preference and for bigger cabs 12mm ply needs substantial bracing. I think it'll be fine for this tiny cab though. We used 18mm for the prototype because I had more offcuts of that than 12mm. It's only a matter of balancing toughness, finish, weight and rigidity.

 

I disown all ownership of the early versions of the MK2 and 3 cabs  Spruce Ply? Good Grief.

 

 

Only the first prototype was spruce, Phil. It was what I had in my Garage. The Beta versions were made from 15mm Italian Poplar. We decided early on that Birch was too heavy. The best thing about the spruce ply was we managed to produce a prototype that proved the concept, using existing materials (and it was cut with a hand saw). That ensured that we went forward with the beta versions.

 

In my opinion, the best cabinet material is concrete, followed by MDF* then Birch and the other plywoods.  Concrete (yes, I have seen and heard one) and MDF* are too heavy for transportability. Birch on a big cabinet is too heavy if you carry your own gear, are over 40, and you have a 2 x 15 cab.

 

*Trace Elliott's speaker designer (I do not remember his name) swore by MDF, but really only HiFi speakers now use MDF as they do not need to be moved,

Edited July 17, 2023 by Chienmortbb

[Matt P]

13 hours ago, Smanth said:

This seems an easy and effective approach

https://www.paniquejazz.com/2018/09/24/project-amp-tilt-back-stand/

S'manth x

 

hmm I quite like that! it would need to be slightly modified to work with the closed back design of this cab though, i'm thining a circular socket drilled at 45 degrees in the middle at the upper back and a rod/foot that slots into that, thereby keeping the back flush. there would need to be a block inside to support it but that would be easy enough to calculate and account for.

 

Matt

 

Edit - something like this

 

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Matt P